backing up on the same tape several times (append)

[Selami Baltaci]

Hi, I use HP-UX 11.11
I use the command
fbackup -vf /dev/rmt/0m -i /tmp
to get backup on a DDS4 tape. but I want to take backup on the same tape such that latter backups wont be deleted. namely, I want not rewriting but appending to the tape.

thanks.

[Steve Steel · Accepted solution]

Hi

The advantage of `fbackup' is that the index is written in the
beginning of the tape. `frecover' does not scan the whole tape.

Thus you cannot append with fbackup . It needs a rewind device

Try tar or cpio if you have to do this


Steve Steel

[MarkSyder]

Data protector is also a good tool if you want to append to tapes.

Mark Syder (like the drink but spelt different)

[Selami Baltaci]

Hi Mark and Steve, thanks to both of you for responses.
Steve; tar cannot send files >8GB but my file is >22GB. Does cpio support such a large file? if so, how shall I use it?

Mark; is data protector a boundle tool of HP-UX? and how shall I use it?

[MarkSyder]

Data Protector (DP) is an HP product (earlier versions were called Omniback) but is chargeable.

If you have HP-UX 11i discs, DP will be on one of the application discs. You can install it and use it for 90 days free of charge. You will then have to pay for a licence.

DP uses a GUI, which in my opinion is easier than using (for example) fbackup on the command line.

At risk of causing controversy, DP's GUI has a very "Microsoft Windows" feel to it, which makes it less user-friendly than the old Omniback - but still more user-friendly than the command line.

Mark

[Selami Baltaci]

It seems I can use neither cpio because it supports upto 2GB files, nor data protector because it requires money.
thanks for all

[D Anderton]

You can try fbackup piped to dd out to tape.

N.B. Ensure you are aware of the position of the tape for recoveries.

Example :

To backup

/usr/sbin/fbackup -i . -f - | dd bs=16k of=/dev/rmt/0mn

To recover

mt -f /dev/rmt/0m rew
mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn fsf

dd bs=16k if=/dev/rmt/0mn | frecover -rvf -

If you change the block size in an fbackup config file ensure the dd block size matches.

Good luck.